Transmedia Synergies – Remediating Films and Video Games

By Matthias Stork

The essay, “Transmedia Synergies – Remediating Films and Video Games”, was
borne out of an uninhibited passion for (action) films and (RPG / FPS) video
games and was intended to synthesize these interests into a mash-up that
utilizes digital video technology to showcase film and video game research, with
the goal of analyzing their aesthetic similarities. In an age that is defined by
the popularity of video games and big-studio blockbusters (many of which are in
fact adapted from video games, and vice versa), a large share of critics tends
to, haphazardly it seems, conflate the two media, usually for derisive purposes.
Terse, dissenting phrases such as ‘This looks like a video game’ or ‘This game
is not very cinematic’ have become convenient shorthand descriptors to express
vague stylistic parallels and obviate, rather than explore, the two media’s
distinct synergies.

This essay seeks to act as a corrective by providing an audiovisual
overview of film-video game synergies. It thereby situates itself in a thriving
academic discourse centered on the relationship between the film and the video
game industries in the New Digital Hollywood. Using the concepts of Bolter and
Grusin’s remediation and Jenkins’ transmedia storytelling as its
theoretical foundation, this visual essay examines the aesthetic ties the two
media have maintained (and diversified) since the 1970s. While the two
media are engaged in a reciprocal dialogue, film seems to be the dominant remediating force. Video game design is substantially
informed by filmic vocabulary as the cultural institution of cinema has
significantly informed how we present, process, and produce visual information.
Yet, films are increasingly influenced by video games as well, though to a
lesser degree, particularly in the realms of adaptation strategy and production
technology. Ironically, even basic cinematic techniques such as the
subjective point-of-view shot (POV) and the Bazinian long-take, in form of a
deep-focus tracking shot, are nowadays more commonly associated with video games
whose popularity reframes (and transforms) classical film language in the
popular consciousness. Not surprisingly, our cultural perception classifies
cinematic action as video game-esque.

This video essay seeks to work as a unifying lynchpin within the
interdisciplinary critical space of film/video game synergies or, more
generally, intermediality. More specifically, its blend of actual, rather
than symbolic, audiovisual material from films and video games, adds a tangible
dimension to the critical discourse which is crucial to an understanding of the
transmedia encounters that transpire in the sphere of aesthetic symbiosis.
Considering the complexity of the topic, the essay by no means represents a
complete survey. In fact, the most difficult task faced in the process of its
creation was to condense the transmedia context without trivializing it. The net
result, as I see it, is a rough cut, a cross-section that allows for a
more visceral, and perhaps more image-centric, engagement with film and video
game aesthetics.

Author bio:

Matthias Stork is a Ph.D. Candidate in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA. His research focuses on digital media industries, including data analytics, transmedia convergence, and interface aesthetics.